Floating seat

Abstract

A seating system for at least one occupant in a vehicle interior is disclosed. The seating system may provide a seat assembly with a base assembly configured to be mounted in the vehicle interior and a seat structure configured to be coupled to the base assembly and providing a seat configured for movement relative to the base assembly. Movement of the seat relative to the base assembly may be made by at least two of recline movement or swivel movement or tilt movement. Recline movement may be generally translating movement of the seat structure. Swivel movement may be rotational movement of the seat structure. Tilt movement may be generally translating movement of the seat structure transverse to recline movement. The base assembly may be a mechanism configured to facilitate movement of the seat structure relative to the base assembly.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A floating seat, comprising
 a base element, and 
 a seat shell, 
 wherein an adjustment mechanism in the manner of a plain bearing is formed at least between the seat shell and the base element, wherein the seat shell is adjustable by the adjustment mechanism at least in two degrees of rotational freedom relative to the base element, and 
 wherein a locking mechanism is provided for locking and/or unlocking an adjustment of the seat shell relative to the base element, wherein the locking mechanism is actuable by a triggering mechanism, and wherein the triggering mechanism is configured to manually or electrically actuate the locking mechanism during normal operation in order to unlock or lock the adjustment of the seat shell relative to the base element and to automatically actuate the locking mechanism in the event of a collision to automatically lock the adjustment of the seat shell relative to the base element. 
 
     
     
       2. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the plain bearing is designed in the manner of a ball and socket joint or split plain bearing or in the form of a multiple-surface plain bearing. 
     
     
       3. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the plain bearing is designed to incline the seat shell relative to the base element in the longitudinal direction about a transverse axis within a range of between 0° and 120°, to roll the seat shell in the transverse direction about a longitudinal axis within a range of between 0° and 10°, and/or to rotate the seat shell about a vertical axis within a range of 0° to 360°. 
     
     
       4. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein an adapter element is arranged between the base element and the seat shell. 
     
     
       5. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the adapter element has a spherical shell shape. 
     
     
       6. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism fixes the seat shell in an arbitrarily settable position relative to the base element. 
     
     
       7. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the locking mechanism is arranged in the adapter element. 
     
     
       8. The floating seat as claimed in  1 , wherein the locking mechanism comprises an electromechanical drive unit which interacts with a brake unit which engages elements including the seat shell and/or the base element. 
     
     
       9. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism is designed as a continuous or infinitely variable lock. 
     
     
       10. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the triggering mechanism for manually or electrically actuating the locking mechanism during normal operation comprises a servomotor. 
     
     
       11. The floating seat as claimed  claim 1 , wherein the triggering mechanism for automatically actuating the locking mechanism in the event of a collision comprises a pyrotechnic propellant. 
     
     
       12. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the triggering mechanism comprises an adjustable wedge element which is adjustable from a starting position into a triggering position by means of the pyrotechnic propellant when the latter is triggered. 
     
     
       13. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the wedge element is coupled in terms of movement to the locking mechanism in such a manner that, when the wedge element is adjusted into the triggering position, the locking mechanism automatically locks the seat shell. 
     
     
       14. The floating seat as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the wedge element is coupled in terms of movement to the locking mechanism in such a manner that, when the wedge element is adjusted into the triggering position, a locking bolt is automatically raised.